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Lacrosse

Hiltz scores five as Syracuse Lacrosse tops Notre Dame in ACC semifinals

SU Men’s LAX tops Notre Dame in ACC semis

Orange keep NCAA Tournament hopes alive while advancing to first ACC Championship since 2016.

Story by Jack Belanger / Photos by Ike Wood
Published: May 2, 2025
Syracuse attack Owen Hiltz lunges after releasing the ball against Notre Dame on May 2, 2025 during the ACC Tournament Semifinals in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Courtesy of Ike Wood/The Daily Orange
Syracuse attack Owen Hiltz lunges after releasing the ball against Notre Dame on May 2, 2025 during the ACC Tournament Semifinals in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The No. 12 Syracuse Men’s Lacrosse team knew it had to come together if it wanted to make it back to the NCAA Tournament.

If the team wanted to significantly improve its chances at an at-large bid to the tournament, it knew a win over No. 6 Notre Dame in the ACC Tournament semifinals would go a long way.

The Orange ended the regular season on a three-game losing streak, all against ranked teams. Their last win came against the Fighting Irish, 14-9, at the JMA Wireless Dome on April 5.

Despite Notre Dame coming into the game on a three-game win streak, Syracuse won 14-12 behind a five-goal game from attack Owen Hiltz. The redshirt senior scored the game’s first goal to ignite a Syracuse 3-0 run in the first quarter.

As expected, the Fighting Irish would fight back. Three different Notre Dame players scored in the first quarter to narrow the game 4-3 going into the second.

After Notre Dame tied the game to start the second quarter, Syracuse went on a 4-0 run in a span of 95 seconds. A goal from Hiltz once again opened the run. The Orange gained extra possessions over the Irish in the quarter by winning the face-off battle 7-1 and secured three more ground balls. Faceoff specialist John Mullen won 21 of 26 of his face-offs and got 11 ground balls

Despite being down 8-4, the Irish made another run. Devon McLane scored and assisted during the 3-0 run. Chris Kavanagh assisted on McLane’s goal to open the third quarter.

Alternative Text
Courtesy of Ike Wood/The Daily Orange
Sophomore Trey Deere (right) celebrates Greg Elijah-Brown’s (left) first career multi-goal game at Syracuse.

The Orange kept Kavanagh, Notre Dame’s leading scorer, quiet for most of the night. He only tallied two goals and an assist.

After attack Greg Elijah-Brown scored his first goal to make it 9-7, the game was stopped due to weather at the 10:21 left in the third quarter. The delay lasted just under an hour.

After another Notre Dame goal, Syracuse ended the third up 11-8.

Elijah-Brown’s second goal of the night opened the fourth quarter and gave the Orange a four goal lead. The senior was one of three Syracuse players to score multiple goals on the night. Hiltz and Luke Rhoa also found the net multiple times for the Orange.

Hiltz’s final goal put the Orange up 14-10 with just under two minutes left. Notre Dame score two goals with an extra man but Syracuse goalie Jimmy McCool made some key saves to help the Orange advance.

McCool, the ACC Goalie of the Year, made 20 saves on the night.

The Orange improved to 10-5, giving the team back-to-back double-digit win seasons. 

Syracuse advances to the ACC Championship Game on Sunday at noon for the first time since 2016. It plays the winner of Duke-UNC in the second semifinal.